Practo raises $30 million from Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners

Thursday February 12, 2015 , 3 min Read

Abhinav Lal (CTO) and Shashank ND (CEO), Practoaabhina

Practo is a Bangalore based growth stage startup that is on mission is to help improve human longevity by simplifying healthcare. It has just announced a fund raise of $30 million from Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners. Practo is currently the largest doctor search engine in Asia and this is its second institutional fund raise. It had first raised INR 25 crores (~$5 million) from Sequoia Capital in 2011. Matrix along with the existing investor Sequoia Capital have put in money, making this one of the largest investments into digital health globally. Practo will use the funds to further accelerate its rapid growth in India and international markets, pursue acquisitions and strategic partnerships and grow the team.

Practo was started by two youngsters, Shashank ND and Abhinav Lal back in 2008 where they were fresh out of college. Over the last six years, the duo have persisted and managed to create a highly respected product company from India. “We are on a mission to improve human longevity by simplifying healthcare. Over the next 12 months we will expand to 35 cities in India and several more international locations to help hundreds of millions of consumers around the world find the best doctors and make better healthcare decisions.” said Shashank.

Every month, over 1 million users book 120,000 appointments via Practo Search. Practo Search volume has grown more than 10x in the last 1 year. With this new round of funding, it plans to expand to 35 cities in India & 6+ countries internationally. “Practo is revolutionizing healthcare by enabling consumers to find the best doctors, book instant appointments and make better, more informed health decisions. It is our privilege to work with Shashank ND and Abhinav Lal, the co-founders of Practo, to scale and bring Practo to millions of consumers around the globe.” said Avnish Bajaj, co-Founder and Managing Director, Matrix India.

“From our first seed investment in Practo in 2011, the company has come a very long way, thanks to the hard work of an incredibly committed entrepreneurial team. We are deeply committed to Practo’s goals and aspirations to transform access to healthcare and positively impact society.” said Shailendra Singh, Managing Director at Sequoia Capital. Practo has had a fascinating journey with a push on B2B and B2C sides, and expects to touch Rs.20 crore in revenue by end of fiscal 2014-15. Here are the revenue channels they rely on:

1. Healthcare provider/ Doctor facing practice management software, Practo Ray, sold as a subscription-based SaaS product.

Practo Ray is offered at two price points, Rs. 999 and Rs. 1999 per month. The premium plan also includes a cloud telephony-based IVR system for doctors.

2. Consumer facing doctor discovery portal, Practo.com

While this is a free product for both patients and doctors, Practo.com allows contextual advertisements from hospitals and clinics in demarcated sections of the website. This model is in a way similar to Google search.

Learn more about them here: